Consistently on the 'woe is me' end of the happiness spectrum, charming delivery and competent songwriting can't keep the majority of the tracks from being forgettable. Short and sweet, "Foregone conclusions"****, with all its religious overtones and messy chord structure, stings in the end and fortunately doesn't overstay its welcome. "A Simple Plan", a cleverly disguised tale of a need for struggle, and "Bands With Managers" are hooky concepts in passable tunes, but Stones-y "Arizona" opens with disconcertingly nonsensical lines "Arizona curled up with California and she tried to hide the whole thing from New Mexico, and tuneless "Keep Swinging" tries to get too clever and too noisy, derailing the album right in the middle. The more upbeat songs, such as "Discretion" and "Transcontinental", provide tuneful diversions, but "The Fleecing", "I Do", and too many others provide sufficient drag to result in an album in need of some therapy.
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